The Master Is Dead! Long Live The Master

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JA from MNPP here. In case you missed the news, it seems that Paul Thomas Anderson's next film The Master - which was to star Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the leader of a new Scientology-like religion in the 50s with Jeremy Renner as his disciple and Reese Witherspoon as his wife - has turned into a pillar of salt and gone poof. It's E-meter done gone and flat-lined. I'm sure it supposedly being a thinly-veiled critique of a religion intertwined with a large portion of the Hollywood establishment had nothing whatsoever to putting a pox on PTA's house, I am sure. Sure. Why not.

Anyway this is depressing news for those of us that worship upon the altar of Paul Thomas Anderson. I promised him my first born and all I get are empty promises! It's enough to make you not believe in a higher directing power after all. My faith in movie-making is shaken! I am having a crisis of cinematic conscience! To quote a well-known philosopher renowned for his wise words and his hammer pants, what we need to do is pray. But who does one aim this sort of prayer towards? Christian God is too busy editing all the boobs out of movies to get them down to PG-13. Muhammad doesn't show his face at the cinema. And unless you're willing to sing and dance it Bollywood-style Buddha doesn't take movie requests. Who is the god of movies? Is it Morgan Freeman too?

..Can you hear me, Morgan Freeman? It's me, JA.
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In all seriousness, if this movie is indeed dead as a dead dormouse, what should PTA turn his attentions to next? Something to get the tweens with their sexting and such on-board could definitely raise his stock I think. Maybe a Love Story 2010 with Zac Efron and his girlfriend. I know, he could remake Boogie Nights and have Katherine Heigl play Amber Waves! It's genius. Fifty million dollar opening weekend in the bag!
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Near, Far, Wherever Comments Are...

I just wanted to take a moment out to publicly thank those of you who take the time to comment. I do read them all. Comments aren't exactly a reliable gauge of how popular a post or "series" is, but they're fun to read nonetheless and can help with motivation on darker days. Some time ago I had to switch to "moderated" comments for any article that's not on the front page to prevent the spambots from touching the film experience in its private places -- No means no! -- so I read all those, too. Just for fun a few notes on brand new comments from old posts.


Robert T is, like me, rattled that Disney is always trying to put Princess Aurora in a pink dress after the fact. It's just so wrong. Blue!

Sachin shared an alternative top 10 once confronted with the Top 50 Female Performances of the 00s. Hilary Swank shan't be denied her fans and Amy Ryan's Gone Baby Gone still has proponents. I've actually been thinking about the latter performance this week. I was wondering if anyone in Ben Affleck's The Town is going to seize awards traction by the balls the way Amy did in that earlier Affleck effort. [tangent] And I also saw the trailer to Jack Goes Boating wherein she romances Philip Seymour Hoffman. From the looks of the trailer she's playing this one in inverse noise proportion to her work on Gone Baby Gone. That's probably a smart move since PSH is directing and probably wants all the attention. He's purposefully making himself look even schlubbier than usual. Why must the cinema torture me with its sexism? They'd never let an actress equivalent of PSH anywhere near a camera, even if she was twice as talented as he. He gets lead roles and then purposefully looks worse than he needs to. If they need a woman to look "unattractive" they just hire someone breathtaking and forego makeup or they do prosthetic work to really drive the point home and win the gorgeous actress prizes for hiding her light under a bushel. (Nerve, touched.) [/tangent]

Finally, Derek added his voice to The Devil Wears Prada love from last Tuesday, calling Streep's work not just the best of 2006 but Best of the 00s period.

P.S. Hope you had a great holiday weekend or a weekend that felt like a holiday if it wasn't one for you.

P.P.S. Oscar prediction updates tomorrow.

P.P.P.S. Do you like the new banner? Now that it's up I'm totally wondering which of the six movie peoples will take my call. One Ringy Dingy. Two Ringy Dingy. Pick up!

Great Hope Springs Tailspin

Wasn't it just yesterday in a comment thread when someone mentioned Meryl Streep & Jeff Bridges not having worked together. To which I was all "hey, they're the same age but they never let actresses play romantically opposite actors the same age!" Funny how these things pop up in the internet ether and the next thing you know, we all seem like prophets.

The Bridges & The Gummers
Jeff & Meryl know a little something about longterm coupling

But I'm burying the lead... or at least muddying it. Okay. As you may have heard Streep & Bridges are close to signing for a marital drama called Great Hope Springs about a couple who've been together for decades having an intense weekend therapy session that will decide the fate of their marriage.

I always argue with myself about movies in development. To wit:

Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges working together = Probably gah!some and reason enough to be very excited.

But...

Another marital drama for Jeff with a blonde lovely (see also: The Door in the Floor) and it's not Michelle Pfeiffer again??? Only La Pfeiffer would make me sad about a Streep/Bridges pairing. I just don't get what the problem is with getting The Fabulous Baker Boys onscreen together again?

<-- Jeff @ Michelle's star ceremony in 2007

From all reports ever shared orally, written on paper, or otherwise recorded in the history of the existence of the world and its movies, Jeff and 'chelle are as super fond of each other offscreen as they are amazing together onscreen, which is to say: very very very fond of each other. How did Pfeiffer tagging along on his Oscar campaign (It wasn't just Oscar night. There was also Palm Springs) go unnoticed by everyone in world who might be involved in movie industry dealings that might lead to them reuniting, fictionally speaking.

But, okay. What's that?

Oh yes, the Great Hope Springs director is Jessie Nelson, the woman who made I Am Sam, and we don't care for that movie so much.We thank it for bringing us wee Dakota Fanning (nice to meet'cha!) but otherwise we have very little time for it even though we thought Pfeiffer was sort of quite good in a weird/thankless/unlikeable way. So maybe it's best that she not repeat that situation.


If that movie is indication, which it might not be since it was a first film, Great Hope won't be subtle and that might be bad for the material since marital dramas that are too histrionic are really hard to sit through and often titled We Don't Live Here Anymore or Revolutionary Road.

Plus, if we're being honest we all know that Streep is a big ham -- a big ham we love, don't forget. (More soon on the Streep series. I'm just a few days behind.) So if a director WANTS big attention grabbing acting and doesn't want her to save some for the next movie, you'll get it all. But therein lies the rub. You can't say that you weren't getting it all with Sean Penn in I Am Sam even as you wanted to give at least half of it back.

[UPDATE: It might be Mike Nichols instead of Nelson in the director's chair, instead.]

Finally, if Streep is doing a marital drama, the movie has a big old cloud hanging over its head and that cloud's last name is Kramer. As in Kramer Vs. Kramer. Because, how you gonna measure up Great Hope Springs? Tread carefully.

The third crucial role of the psychiatrist is not yet cast. Philip Seymour Hoffman had to pull out of the project to ruin P.T. Anderson's next masterpiece (argh and also: calm down if that sentence made you angry) so maybe somebody less ubiquitous but able to keep up with Jeff & Meryl is in order. Might I suggest David Strathairn? Doesn't he deserve better after Good Night, and Good Luck.? Couldn't he have a go?

I'm trying to stop jabbering away.

I'm in a tailspin... HELP. Talk to me.
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